Koala dozes off ... up an electricity pylon

There's your natural habitat and there's making do - as this koala has.
Normally these cuddly mammals are happiest munching on a eucalypt leaf or two in-between naps in the tree canopy but with no gum trees 20km in one direction and 6km in another, this little fella was happy to get his head down up an electricity pylon.

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Time out: A male koala grabs a nap in-between marking out his territory for females. With no gum tree in sight he clambers up an electricity pylon and gets his head down before, bottom, waking from his slumber

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And sleep is something koalas just love to do, often notching up between 16 and 18 hours a day as they have a very low metabolic rate.

This male koala is believed to have been out in the open close to Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia, marking his territory while on the lookout for girlfriends.
The males head out on regular trips to mark out circles and claim the female koalas inside.
'If you think it is out in the middle of nowhere, he knows where he is going. But they do mark their territory looking for females,' said wildlife expert Nancy Small.
'He is setting his groundwork up for breeding, there will be a lot of koalas travelling around here and they travel in circles and each circle takes in so many females.'
'I think you will find this koala will be fine, I have only heard of one being electrocuted and he was in a big power plant.

'They do travel, they travel from area to area, they can travel quite far and they go up into any tree or anything that's high and have a rest.'

But as these pictures show, this sleepy chap had just about had his fill of sleep and even managed to pose for the camera - albeit with eyes shut.